Outstanding faculty recognized for teaching, research, service

Each year, the College of Business and Economics honors a faculty member who goes above and beyond in each area of their profession—teaching, scholarship and service. The Faculty Excellence Award recipients for 2016-2017 were recognized at the annual Outstanding Gradate and Faculty Recognition Reception on May 23.

Faculty Excellence in Scholarship

Yingying Shao, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Finance

Shao stood out among nominees for this award by her ability over the past three years to deliver an outstanding record in research with both quality and quantity. She has published a total of 14 articles in high-quality peer-reviewed journals, including 5 A-ranked journals and 7 B-ranked journals. Shao also has published her work with a variety of internal and external co-authors in three distinct research areas showcasing her expertise and intellectual curiosity.

Faculty Excellence in Service

Plamen Peev, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Department of Marketing

Professor Peev has demonstrated a significant commitment to service at all levels across campus. At the department level, this faculty member has been engaged with academic and student-based organizations, the assessment and curriculum committees, as well as faculty recruitment. At the college level, this professor has served on the CBE Council as well as the Technology and D&R committees. Finally, he has been actively involved in organizing commencement exercises. But the defining feature of his service has been his commitment to CBE students through his involvement as a faculty fellow and advisor for TU athletes in addition to his creation and leadership of the annual CBE Sales Competition. In addition, he has been the faculty advisor for the TU AMA where he developed the membership base and created community service opportunities for students. This year’s award recipient’s commitment in both the academic and in the general community demonstrates that there are number of ways that a faculty member can effectively collaborate and advance our mission.

Faculty Excellence in Teaching

MariAna Lebrón, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Department of Management

The effort of this professor to make an engaging and challenging classroom environment does not go unnoticed by students. Lebrón consistently achieves student evaluation ratings above 4.6 out of 5 on average. Students’ powerful praise for Lebrón includes statements such as: “amazing teacher, cares deeply for students, and emphasizes real life concepts.” During the past three years, cases used in her classes have centered around 33 different for-profit and non-profit companies. Further, student-centered learning as opposed to teacher-centered is her modus operand with a collaborative classroom environment empowering students to set and enforce some of their own classroom policies. In addition to her outstanding teaching record, outside of the classroom she continues to actively engage students through co-authoring academic papers and leading groups of them to college-wide competitions where they placed several years in a row. Lebrón also won the Towson University teaching innovation award.